New Fisheye Tray

[marpacifica]

I also have the Fish Eye tray, bought from Yuzo in Japan. My setup is an Oly 3030 in a PT-010, which uses the same settling plate between the two arm pieces. I also added the carrying tray, which attaches to the tops of both arm bases. The advantage of the carrying tray is, no kidding, the ability to carry the whole setup. This is especially helpful for the many beach dives I do in Saipan. Drawback is the extra weight, probably 1/2 pound, which when added to the 2 medium ultralight arms, 2 large ultralight arms, and two YS-90DX strobes, makes the whole set up a tank underwater. I used to be neutrally bouyant without extra weight before the camera setup, but now I'm packing about 10 lbs extra. This situation might call for the bouyant Ultralight arms.

Another drawback with the carrying tray is that I seem to get a lot of salt deposits where the pieces fit together. The top tray also rubs metal against metal because the pieces don't align quite right. I've reduced the buildup and metal friction by wrapping Teflon plumber's tape around the screw attachments, and placing small pieces of thin, light, compressable felt between the metal pieces.

In the next few days I'm expecting in the mail an Ultralight pivot tray for the Tetra/Olympus housings, and will report back if I like that setup better than the Fish Eye tray.

 

[ReyeR]

Why don't these manufacturers ever think to ask us, the folks who use their stuff, what can be improved, fixed or added?

I did bring this to Terry's (of ULCS - I bought my first set of arms directly from them) attention when I returned from my first trip but got a negative response. After a very positive experience of ordering from them and using their excellent product(s) it was a little disappointing.

EDIT: Looking closely at the new bits and pieces they've added they've actually got all the parts there to fix the problem very easily. They just need a bit of modification:
New handle (TR-DH) + modifed BA-IKT

 

[chippy]

Sorry to drag this thread back to the top of the pile again, but I have a few questions (which I'm sure ReyeR will be able to answer) about the whole fisheye/ULCS/Ikelite rig.

I've got a single handed Ike tray and 2 x 8 inch ULCS arms & three clamps connected to my DS50, but I definately want to upgrade to 2 x DS125's, and I like the FE Tray.

The questions is:-

How did you get the TTL & Manual slave controllers to mount on the fisheye? I couldn't really make it out in the pics. Same goes for the lens caddy?

Why one manual and one TTL?

Where did you get the diffuser panel on the housing from?

Thanks for any info

 

[ReyeR]

How did you get the TTL & Manual slave controllers to mount on the fisheye? I couldn't really make it out in the pics. Same goes for the lens caddy?

The controller mounts are just DIY 19mm tubes that have been screwed to the bottom of the strobe mount. Your other options are to get a triple clamp and a sensor adaptor from ULCS. Or there's an Ikelite part that slips over the ball of the UL arm (see: http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/arm_o.html part #0469.1). The disadvantage of these are that, depending on how much you reposition the strobes, the sensor aim may change. This may be a non-issue if you are using the manual sensor. The lens caddy is an Inon lens caddy that attaches snugly to the UL arm.

Why one manual and one TTL?

Being a beginner I started off with one DS-125 and the TTL sensor because I wanted a TTL system to start with. TTL worked out really well and helped me learn a lot in the beginning. Then I discovered the 'slave' flash on the C5050 and the speed with which it would recycle, and combined with the blazing speed of the DS-125 I just had to move to manual (TBH if a C5050/DS-125 hardwired true TTL system was a viable/available option I would go back to it for macro). I then added a second DS-125 and manual sensor. I now slave the TTL sensor to the manual strobe so it mimmicks the manual strobe's output. So, overall, I just have to vary one controller to get the correct exposure. I change the aim/distance/diffuser to get varied lighting. BTW I have completely rewired the system with FO cables. Happy to start a new thread to discuss this...

Where did you get the diffuser panel on the housing from?

Made it from a sheet of black plastic (art & craft store), modified bicycle pump holder and a velcro strap that threads though the pump holder and around the lens barrel. Easy to twist out of the way if I want to use the camera's flash.

 

[chippy]

Phew, and I thought it was going to be easy !!

I presume the tubes (aluminium?) bolt onto the underside of tray handles using the same screws that bolt the Ball socket down? At the moment I have a tall ball "stalk" that plugs into the Ike tray and the controller fits onto it with a ball on the top, but that's not going to work with the FE tray, so I may have to settle with triple clamps and adaptors.


FO cables? Manual & TTL does seem to be the way to go. I already have one TTL sensor, so it makes sense to use that one and just get a 2 x DS125 heads, and a manual controller.

At the moment I have a tall balled "stalk" that plugs into the Ike tray and the controller fits onto it with a ball on the top, but that's not going to work with the FE tray.

As for the Diffuser panel, I've done the old "foil sandwich" trick, so may stick with that for now

Cheers for the info BTW.

Paul

 

[ReyeR]

Phew, and I thought it was going to be easy !!

I should have put a warning that it wasn't for the faint-hearted

The tray handles have holes drilled both horizontally and vertically:
     O
O         O
     O
So the BA-AQW screws onto the horizontal holes and I've screwed the tubes onto the vertical ones. They can be aluminium but I used plastic because they were easier to source.

so I may have to settle with triple clamps and adaptors

Have a look at the Ikelite part. When mounted they look like this (though the adaptor shown is not the one I mentioned): http://wetpixel.com/reviews/d60_seaandsea/ike/20021226_000345_1.htm. Apart from the sensor aim shifting (which will also happen with the Ikelite part) I found the grip of the triple clamp wasn't as good as the standard double.

FO cables? Manual & TTL does seem to be the way to go. I already have one TTL sensor, so it makes sense to use that one and just get a 2 x DS125 heads, and a manual controller.

Fibre Optical cables. The problem you'll face with this setup is to aim the TTL sensor at the manually controlled strobe and faithfully mimmick the duration. Ofcourse you can always use the strobe in one of the 4 manuall settings... but that's v messy.

 

[Scubatooth]

ReyerR

if you dont mind would posting what this set up costs and a break down of the parts need. also what are the dimesions of this set up because this looks like a item that wont fit in the cabin as carry on in a pelican case.


because this looks like a very intresting set up.

Dan

FYI Dee you are starting to sway my purchase to shift from the canon A80 and canon housing to the oly.

 

[Dee]

Scubatooth once bubbled...
...FYI Dee you are starting to sway my purchase to shift from the canon A80 and canon housing to the oly.

I knew we could overwhelm you! BTW...if you use a S&S or Inon strobe with the fiber optic cable, you won't have to worry about all those seperate pieces and getting them aimed just right!

 

[chippy]

Thanks Reye

I ordered the fisheye tray, extra handle, top "carry handle", BUT, I ordered the ULCS direct ball base for fisheye (looks like a single bolt).

I also ordered two single lens caddies, 2 x 20cm ULCS arms and 3 "normal" ULCS double clamps.

I had a little brain wave yesterday - I'm going to order my DS125's from the U.S., and oddly enough, it's cheaper to buy the strobes and controllers WITH the standard Ikelite Arms than without them. I'll take a hacksaw to one of the spare arms and chop off two equal length pieces which I can use to mount the controllers.

mmmm........I think the FO cables will be beyond my limited talents, so I'll have to stick to the "normal" cables. Would putting the TTL controller sensitivity on "max" help?

 

[chippy]

The order is on hold temporerily (just as well as I think I ordered the wrong Ball mounts !!)

Yuzo emailed to say that Fisheye are bringing out a brand new tray at the end of the month. He's going to email me a picture of it tomorrow, and I'll post it on the forum if anyone else wants a peek.